To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of

Professor Alexander S. Skaridov*

To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Caspian oil on the regime of passage through the Black Sea straits.

In the Russian professional or socio-political literature To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of, the expression «the Turkish straits» is rarely encountered, even though the Bosphorus, and the Sea of Marmara, and Dardanelles, which form the straight zone, are located in the Turkish territory, and such a To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of name should be considered more than acceptable. For Russia, however, the straits always were and will remain the Black Sea straits, as far as they make the only waterway To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of leading from the Black Sea to in southern ocean space. Last years of the 20th century the straits again started to get narrow - for Russia and other Black Sea and surrounding countries. Turkey To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of is concerned with a threat of negative ecological consequences resulting from increased tanker navigation through straits, and hence introduces national regulations that obviously overstep the established international legal framework in the strait zone.

In To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of different stages of history, Russia’s need in the straits was based mainly on the necessity to maintain security. Perhaps, for the first time straits smell more of money and oil than To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of of the ocean breeze. However, history is passionless and it testifies, that whatever reason of disagreements about use of the ocean would dominate, a question of freedom of navigation remains the To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of main one.

The Byzantian sources first mention the attempts of Russian ships to pass through the Bosphorus in 626 A.D.1 However, purposefully Russian diplomacy reflected on the importance of the legal To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of regime of the Straits after 1696, when the march of Peter I on the fortress of Azov successfully finished. For more than four hundred years the question of the Black Sea straits regime remains To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of one of the most important and difficult themes of the international relations and Russian diplomacy. Reiterated Russian-Turkish wars of 18-19th centuries, Crimean war of the European countries coalition against Russia, threat of To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of England and Austria military intervention in 1878, blocking by England of the Russian Black Sea fleet during the Russian-Japanese war, confrontation between Russia and Turkey within the first world war, the To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Greek-Turkish war of 1919-1922 and military intervention of the Entente against the Soviet Republic influenced in one or another period of time the possibility of using the straits in the interests To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of of military and civil navigation.

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* Captain (Ret). Alexander Skaridov from 1983 was assigned to the Mediterranean Command of the Russian Navy as a staff legal adviser and from 1985 to 1986 as a senior staff To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of legal adviser to the Commanding Officer of the Black Sea Fl. From 1996 he was a chief of the International Law Chair of the Russian Naval Academy and since 1999 he has been To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of heading the Academy of Liberal arts and Communication Technologies Education (St. Petersburg) of the Russian Academy of Humanitarian Sciences. He is leading the International Law Chair in the Academy, he is Editor To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of-in-Chief of the " Academic Journal " (annual Proceedings of the Academy) and from 2001 he is the President of the St. Petersburg branch of the Russian Association of the Law of the Sea To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of.

As we know the multilateral treaty, which is in force now and which established the international legal regime of using the straits is the Convention regarding the regime of the straits signed To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of at Montreux on July 20 th, 1936. Basically this document devoted to the order of passing straits by merchant vessels and military ships.

As we also know, in the 20-ies Turkey tried several times To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of to impose regulations for foreign ships requiring a request for permission to pass through the straits, forbidding usage of radio when passing, enforcing police and customs screening of transit ships, etc., but after applications To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of from a number of countries, the Turkish government was compelled to specify, that these rules were not relevant to foreign ships passing as transit.

In 1982 the government of Turkey enacted the To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Istanbul Port Regulations, having attributed its provisions to the whole zone of the straits certain rules. However, after objections from a number of countries, Turkish authorities мейд a statement that these regulations refer To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of only the Turkish and those foreign ships, which come into the Turkish ports, and do not refer to foreign ships which are passing through the straits as transit.

On March 13, 1994, after the To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of oil spill from the oil tanker "Nasia" under the Cyprus flag, referring on necessity to increase safety of navigation and to improve condition of environment, Turkey had announced, that starting from July 1, 1994 the To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of national Navigation Regulations in the zone of the Black Sea Straits would come into force. I am not going to boring you by my interpretation of the Regulations, but To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of for the further discussion will only pointing out some ideas which came up after acknowledging of 1998 Regulations version.

By Regular 1 of the 1998 “Maritime traffic regulations for the Turkish straits and the Marmara region” the To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of purpose of Vessel Traffic Regulations is to ensure safety of navigation, safety of life, property and marine environment by improving the safety of vessel traffic in the Straits.

Beyond doubt To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Turkish authorities could established Traffic Control Center and Stations in order to control the vessel movements. Also there is nothing wrong with the technical requirements for vessels intending to pass through the Straits (Regular 5). But To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of according to the Rules, "if any vessel can not comply with any technical requirements listed in Reg. 5 it will result the implementation of measures as prescribed in reg. 7 para. 2 by according to To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of which the Traffic Control Center " will advise anchorage / waiting position to the said vessel for undergoing necessary repairs and surveys. This provision implement the permissible passage thought the straits.

No serious arguments To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of against provisions of Part 3 (Navigating through the Istanbul and Canakkale straits) because the objectives of all mentioned in this part regulations - to insure the safety of navigation. Exception should be мейд To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of for the Reg 20, related with the "Suspending the traffic temporally for Turkish Straits". By this regulation traffic in the Straits may temporally be suspended by the Administration in the following cases:

a To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of) In force majeure situations,

b) Collision, grounding, fire, public security, pollution and similar occasions.

c) Surface or underwater construction works such as building bridges - tunnels or drilling works etc. for To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of the common wealth of the public,

d) The existence of navigational dangers within the Straits.

Para. "c" and "d" could be understand and implement by the Administration so broader that could be a subject To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of of passing prohibition. From other provisions we also could find some novels in the Strait regime. For example: Nuclear Powered vessels or vessels carrying nuclear cargo or nuclear wastes, dangerous and/or hazardous To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of cargo or wastes at least 72 hours before fixing a voyage through the Straits, must contact with the Administration … and " for the safety of the passage within the Straits, nuclear To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of powered vessels shall take all measures informed by the Administration (Reg. 26) - "all" could mean prohibition of passage.

Provisions of Part 6 (Canakkale strait, traffic separation schemes regulations) will influence the ability for some vessels To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of to pass the strait, but even so, we have agree that the limitation of passage for all vessels carrying hazardous cargo because of influence on their maneuvering ability surface current is serious To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of issue and should be recognized.

By "Miscellaneous provisions" some rules shall not apply to the vessels of war, auxiliary vessels and state owned vessels which are not in use for trading. " (Reg. 49), but To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Reg.2 which is not among those, contains some provisions which if apply to war ships will be in contradiction with the provisions of 1936 Convention. For example, the known classification given in To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Section II ("vessels of war") and Annex II of the Montreux Convention suppose to be extended by a Deep Draft Vessel (a vessel having a deepest draught of 15 meters or greater) and a To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Large Vessel (a vessel having a length overall of 200 meters or more) .

As a general conclusion about 1998 Regulations we have to mentioned as following. Article 1 of the Montreux, 1936 Convention stated that "the To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of high contracting parties recognize and affirm the principle of freedom of transit and navigation by sea in the straits." Even in case of some troubles with the linguistics interpretation of "freedom of To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of transit"2 we have to underline that the contracting parties of the Montreux Convention understood this freedom without ambiguity and as it written in article 2: "in time of peace, merchant vessels shall To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of enjoy complete freedom of transit and navigation in the straits, by day and by night, under any flag and with any kind of cargo, without any formalities, except as provided in article To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of 3. No taxes or charges other than those authorized by annex I to the present convention shall be levied by the Turkish authorities on these vessels when passing in transit without calling To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of at a port in the straits, … pilotage and towage remain optional."

To keep this paper compact the author will skip the story of controversy between Turkey, Black sea states 3 and , the IMO Maritime Safety Committee To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of (MSC) instead of this a very simple idea should be underline - for Russia any change of rules, any navigating innovation or novellas about collection of the new port dues …, - are not To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of just temporary difficulties arising from the new conditions of navigation, one can get used to it, but it is an encroachment on the right to enter the Southern regions of the To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of ocean, that was achieved by blood of the Russian soldiers and efforts of diplomacy.

^ Turkey’s environmental and safety of navigation concerns.

The Bosphorus Strait commands access to the Marmara or To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Black Sea, and is 31 km long with an average width of 1.5 km. As a former Naval officer, who spent in the Straits about two month of his life (if put together all To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of day’s spend while passing the Straits) the author of these lines would say that maritime navigation in the straits is difficult because the Bosporus is narrow (at its narrowest point, it To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of constricts to only 4 cables (700 meters) across) and difficult waterways. There are strong currents and sometimes difficult meteorological conditions in the straits. There are also about 14 bends, some of them as sharp as 90 degrees. Vessels experience To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of difficulties because of the current at these bends. So as we already learn it is very dangerous and risky to pass through the straits.

In the same time we have To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of to mention that this is not the most dangerous and busiest place for navigation. For example, the narrowest point of the Singapore strait is about 2,5 miles; Small Belt is about 0,3 miles and to To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of proceed the strait it’s necessary to proceed through one of the three narrow passage of the bridge the width of the most usable of which is only 210 meters. Current shipping traffic in To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Bosporus is about is about 45,000 vessels per year (one every 12 minutes);4 in addition, between 2,000 and 2,500 smaller ships use the Bosphorus to transport tourists and residents between Istanbul's European and Asian To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of shores. 5 ); to compare, in the Baltic Straits it’s about 60 000 vessels per year

It’s quit evident, that as the number of ships through the Straits grows, the risk of accidents increases. An To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of accidents could have serious environmental consequences and endanger the health of the 12 million residents of Istanbul that live on either side of the Straits. With tonnage on the rise To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of as well, the threat of collision is not the only danger, while major spills can bring about immediate environmental consequences, the presence of large oil- and gas-carrying ships in the Straits To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of causes other problems, such as the day to day release of contaminated water as the ships ballast their holds.

On March 26, 2001 Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Kasymzhomart Tokayev inaugurated a new pipeline that should To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of allow his country to ship part of its crude oil output to world markets without relying solely on Russia's transportation network. The 1,600-km long Caspian Pipeline Consortium pipeline will stretch between the giant To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Tengiz oil field in western Kazakhstan to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiisk. From there, crude oil will be loaded onto tankers and shipped to international markets.

On March 28, Turkey warned To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of that the expected additional tankers from Novorossiisk will further imperil navigation through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits. Ankara says that the capacity of the straits has already reached its limits and that To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of further traffic will force vessels to wait in line for passage, thus harming regional trade and environment.

Turkish State Minister Ramazan Mirzaoglu, who is in charge of maritime affairs, said Turkish authorities To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of have already started reviewing passage rules following the opening of the Tengiz-Novorossiisk pipeline. He also said Ankara might impose restrictions on vessel traffic to ensure the safety of Istanbul's 12-million To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of strong population.

Among new regulations to be considered are an obligation for the ships crossing the channels to be double-hulled and not to be older than permitted by international safety rules To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of. Mirzaoglu also said the use of Turkish tugboats and pilots by foreign captains will be strongly encouraged.

Certainly, one of the reasons which induced Turkey to enact unilateral measures on changing To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of the regime of passing through straits was a concern for ecological well-being of the multimillion city. On the other хэнд, it has to be also admitted, that this reason To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of was not the only one. Drastic restriction on the number of oil-takers passing through the straits would compel Russia and other countries of region to search for the other ways of transportation of To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of the Caspian oil, and one of most realistic ways would be a variant to transport oil through the pipeline laid on the territory of Turkey (according to the Turkish sources, this would To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of have compensated Turkey the annual loss of more than 230 million US dollars that Turkey suffers as a result of sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council with respect to Iraq).

It is To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of obvious, that the Montreux Convention of 1936 could not adequately take into account threats to the future. It also makes no doubts that such a task is not set before any To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of international agreement to be adopted. It would have been totally unbelievable to think at the times when Hugo Groci formulated “the principle of freedom of the high sea” , that this principle would be revised only To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of because the cargoes shipped by sea transport are extremely hazardous to an environment. Moreover, such cargoes actually are being transported by sea for the most part. Currently the biggest share of To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of the hazardous sea shipments falls to the oil. 58 % of extracted oil is transported by sea.

^ How intensively the Bisporus used to be used for the oil transportation? By the data from United States To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Energy information administration – 1.7 million barrels/day (0.2 million barrels/day eastbound) oil flows (1998E) through the Bosporus Strait. ^ In compare with other transit Chokepoints, this is not the highest index To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of. The picture of the World Oil Transit Chokepoints gives us that over 30 million barrels/day pass through the relatively narrow shipping lanes and pipelines. Through the world's most important oil chokepoint, the Strait of To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Hormuz the narrowest channel of which is about 2-mile wide, flows 15.4 million barrels per day (1998E), , in Panama Canal - 0.6 million barrels/day and through Suez Canal by itself transported 0.7 million To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of barrels/day of petroleum in 1998. In the Strait of Malacca, where the narrowest point of this shipping lane is the Phillips Channel in the Singapore Strait, which is only 1.5 miles wide flows To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of about 9.5 million barrels/day. This also creates a natural bottleneck, with the potential for a collision, grounding, and as a result - oil spill. If the strait will be closed, nearly half To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of of the world's fleet would be required to sail farther, generating a substantial increase in the requirement for vessel capacity. Closure of the Strait of Malacca would immediately raise freight rates worldwide To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of.6

The Strait of Hormuz lets pass about 630 million of oil cargoes annually, the Strait of Malacca – up to 330 million tons, the Bosphorus Strait – about 75 million tons, Suez Canal – about 45 million tons To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of, Rotterdam Port - up to 30 million tons, and Panama Canal – a little more than 22 million tons. But even recognizing mentioned above facts we should treat the Bosporus strait as the one of the most dangerous To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of point because this is the heart of living environment of many millions of the Istanbul population. ^ Do we have any reasonable Bosporus bypass options ? As we already heard from the To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of previous presentations there are several routes and most critical question which one will be picked up. Turkey and the United States have been pressing for a "Western route" pipeline that would carry oil from Azerbaijan To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of's port of Baku through Azerbaijan and Georgia and then across Turkey to Ceyhan, (at an estimated cost of $1.8-$4 billion). This would be a major part of the proposed "Eurasian To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Corridor" to bring Caspian oil and gas to international markets via Turkey, and to bypass Russia and Iran. Russia, on the other хэнд, is promoting a "Northern route" across the Caucasus to the To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. From there, oil would be transported through Bulgaria and Greece, or via Romania, Ukraine or even Croatia. In all known projects of bypassing the Bosporus To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Strait there are as minimum two critical questions:

(1) side which decided to build pipeline should invest money and another:

(2) any pipeline needed to be economical.

The volume of oil available for To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of the pipeline for the “Western route (Baku-Ceyhan) to consider this line economical need to be about 1 million bbl a day, for the early 2001, it was around 118,000 bbl. a day and phase-1 of the program To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of to develop the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli block, will increase production to 400,000 bbl. A day and it will not begin until 2004-2005. 7

^ So, money, vide range of technical and economic disputes and doubts about To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of efficiency of mentioned above bypassing options in compare with capacity of Caspian and Kazakhstan oil production, hardly makes any bypassing plans real alternative of tanker transportation through the Straits.

Russia is To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of a major supplier of crude oil and natural gas to Europe. In 2000, Russian oil companies exported 4.4 million barrels per day (bbl/d) of oil. Russian oil exports in 2001 will increase an additional 8.5%, up To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of to 4.74 million bbl. A day. Now Russia the world's second largest oil exporter (behind only Saudi Arabia). Oil and gas exports are a key income source, providing a quarter To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of of Russian government revenues. Even a $1-per-barrel price increase for Russia's Urals Blend benchmark brings in almost $1 billion in extra earnings.

The Black Sea remains the largest outlet for To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Russian oil exports. Since 1991, Caspian oil exports via Black Sea ports reached nearly 500,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2000. The development of additional the Tengiz-Novorossiisk pipeline of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium's (CPC) which To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of was launched in March 2001 (with an initial capacity of 564,000 bbl/d) could increase oil flows transiting the Black Sea by another 2 million bbl/d by 2010 (http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of/cabs/caspblk.html). The U.S. petroleum company Chevron, a major partner in the Tengiz-Novorossysk petroleum pipeline, announced that the oil consortium would send one tanker per day through To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of the turkish straits in the initial phases. 8

In the summer of 2001, Kazakhstan and Russian signed an inter-governmental agreement that would make Kazakhstan eligible to transport up to 330,000 bbl/d through the Russian pipeline To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of system in 2002. This deal guarantees that more oil will continue to flow through the Straits.9

^ Bosphorus Safety of Navigation Problem

It's quit evident that Russia is unable to refuse from using Straits To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of for oil transportation. But in the same time it's also evident that the Caspian oil industry, cannot rely solely on the Turkish Straits for oil exports due to the risks of disruption To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of from accidents and spills, and what is more - some of these accidents could well be not only from tankers, but from different types of ships. The risk of a serious accident in To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of the Straits is too high to be acceptable not only by Turkey, but for all Black Sea states.

Constant improvement in safety measures are needed in the short, medium To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of and long term to guarantee the Straits as a vital waterway for all stakeholders benefit. With the increase in Caspian oil volumes, potential further Black Sea trading and the growth of non-oil shipping To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of, realistic solutions will be required.

^ What could be done to improve the safety of navigation in the Straits?

(1) The first easiest step is to make the pilotage obligatory (around 60 % of To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of all ships transiting the Straits do so without a pilot), but this will require not only adoption of National Rules, it will require changes in the 1936 Convention.

(2) The task of increasing a To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of level of ships transit through the straits can be achieved by accomplishing a complex of measures on several directions. One of basic is the maintenance and further development of the system of navigating equipment in To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of water areas of the strait zones, which should include radionavigation systems, beacons, shining and not shining navigating marks and lights, floating warning marks (buoys and spark-buoys).

We know that Turkey To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of making a lot to improve shipping safety across the overcrowded waters of the Turkish straits. In 1999 a multi-million dollar command structure including night vision facilities and strictly delineated sea lanes To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of was built. The new radar control system intended to improve navigation safety along the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits and the Sea of Marmara; the project vessel traffic management and information structure is To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of intended to incorporate two control headquarters aided by 13 unmanned radar stations as well as a wireless communications network and sea current detectors, meteorological observation platforms and a high-speed computer command To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of structure in charge of all such sub-systems. Earlier 2001, Turkey started working on a new system to monitor maritime traffic through a network of radar towers. The towers will send data to To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of two control centers meant to ensure navigation safety and provide help promptly in case of accidents. 10

We also know that Turkish scientists are considering plans to dig a 140-km canal linking the To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara. Once the canal will be built it will certainly help ease traffic through the Straits.

(3) Alongside with above said measures on maintaining safety of navigation in To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of the straits, the most effective one therewith still remains measures on improving the techniques of ships and due preparation of crews.

As it is known, in December, 2000 IMO approved the text of Chapter To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of 5 of the SOLAS-74 Convention, on which the member countries should present their remarks, if they have any, by January 1, 2002, and this is a quite real opportunity to look at the rules also To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of from the point of view of safe transit through Turkish straits. 11

It is provided, that the provisions of Chapter 5 «Safety of Navigation» of the SOLAS Convention will be henceforth applied all To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of vessels floating in the sea, irrespective of a type and purpose, and performing both international and local voyages.

The main role of technical and legal supervisor with regard to applying provisions of the To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of SOLAS Convention is assigned to the national administrations, that are delegated the right to specify the order of executing provisions of the Convention .

The new edition of Chapter 5 keeps in its To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of structure a number of rules, that contain provisions on the order of performing obligations that the contracting states take on with regard to organizing by them services of navigation and meteorological warnings, search To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of and rescue services, and hydrographic service.

Very important are the rules 10-12, which concern determining of the ways of ships movement, systems of the ship messages and services managing ships movement. They are To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of based on principles developed by IMO in the period after the old SOLAS Convention was adopted in 1974 and determine the order of starting-up these ways, systems and services. They To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of also specify functions, rights and responsibilities of IMO with regard to developing instructions, criteria and rules on application of the settled ways and systems. The maximization of the value of the Strait's Vessel To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Traffic Management System (VTS) will provide the opportunity to anticipate traffic congestion and regulate traffic flow. It will also greatly enhance the pilot's ability.

The mainframe of the Rules in Chapter To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of 5 (from 14 to 35) defines navigating requirements to equipment and design the vessel, its crew and the order of activities of the crew members during the voyage. The Rule 14 contains general requirement To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of on obligatory completion of ships by appropriate amount of crew and its due qualification. In more details, principles of completion of ships with crew are stated in the Resolution of IMO A.481(XII To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of) and other IMO documents. The Rule 14 also indicates the necessity of establishing a uniform working language on the vessel, that all members of a team should understand and which should be the written language To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of of all working guidance and instructions. should be prepared. The Rule also indicates the advisability of using the English language on the pilot-bridge for radio communication and dialogue To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of, if necessary, with the pilot.

The rules 16-18 of the new Chapter 5 indicate responsibilities of national maritime administrations concerning organizing technical servicing and appropriate repair of the navigation equipment, maintenance of electromagnetic compatibility of the electrical To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of and electronic equipment placed on the pilot-bridge, as well as the order of approval and surveying navigation systems and equipment. In particular, Rule 18 underlines that after July 1, 2002 all navigation To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of systems and equipment required for installation on vessels according to the new Chapter 5, should be of a type approved by the national administration and meet the service requirements complying to that To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of adopted by IMO.

Especially important in Chapter 5 is the Rule 19, which contains the requirement on providing vessels with navigation systems and equipment. It is based on Rule 12 of the old Chapter 5, which To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of was exposed to significant structural changes. The requirements of the new Rule are essentially extended and now they are attributed to the vessels with capacity starting from 150 reg. tons.

Requirements of the To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of new Rule 19 will be attributed first of all to vessels built after July 1, 2002. Existing vessels, i.e. built before July 1, 2002, should continue to observe the requirements of the Rules 12 and 20 of Chapter 5 of the SOLAS To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of-74 Convention in the part of their providing with navigation equipment. However, text of the rule (19.1.1.3) contains the instruction, according to which the existing vessels, when their navigation equipment is being replaced or To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of upgraded, should observe, if it is reasonable or practically possible, the requirements of Rule 18 of the new Chapter 5. The unconditional requirement concerning existing ships built before July 1, 2002 is an additional providing them To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of, irrespective of their size, with receivers of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS), or another RNS operating in the area of their navigation. These receivers should allow to determine automatically To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of the current position of the vessel.

Besides, all ships with capacity 300 reg. tons and more performing international voyages, and cargo ships with capacity more then 500 tons performing coastal navigation To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of, should be equipped with transponders of automatic information (identification) system (AIS). This requirement is attributed to the indicated new vessels starting from 01.07.2002. Terms of their installation on existing vessels are differentiated depending on their To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of types and sizes and are specified in Rule 19.2.4. Concerning oil-carriers, it is required, that they should be equipped with transponders AIS to be first checked after July 1, 2003. Transponder AIS To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of should provide automatic transmission of information about the vessel’s identification call letter, type of a vessel, its current location, course and velocity of navigation and other navigation data, that can be To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of received by other vessels, airplanes and coast stations equipped with the same device . The transponder should provide also receiving of the named information from other vessels, controlling and tracking them, and also exchanging data with To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of coastal services.

The new Rule 19 extends requirements concerning vessels with capacity:

* 300 and more reg. tons, stating that they should be provided with radar-tracking station (RTS) with the electronic To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of device lining up to 10 counter targets for determining danger of colliding with them;

* more than 500 reg. tons – radars should have the device of automatic setting of direction and distance to 10 observable targets for To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of determining danger of collision;

* more than 3000 reg. tons - device registering data about the voyage (RDD, or a “black box”), second RTS (working in the range of 10 or 3 cm) with the device of an To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of automatic setting the targets, which on ships with capacity more than 10000 reg. tons should be replaced on the device of automatic radar-tracking setting (ARTSD) of at least to 20 targets capable to To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of provide playing of the maneuver for prevention of the collision;

* 10000 reg. tons and more – automatic steersman for navigating by the course or by the trajectory;

* more than 50 000 reg. tons - indicator To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of of turn velocity and absolute lag for measuring longitudinal and cross speed of vessel movement in relation to ground.

New in Rule 19 is the requirements referring to all vessels with completely closed pilot To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of-bridge and concerning their equipping with the system sound signals receiving. It should provide possibility to listen on the pilot-bridge to external sound signals and to determine their direction.

In text of To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of the new Chapter 5, there is no direct requirement on obligatory equipping vessels with electronic cartographical and information system (ECIS), that are already widely used on the vessels. According to Rule To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of 19.1.2.4, all vessels, irrespective of their size, should be provided with officially issued sea navigating paper maps, which can be replaced with ECIS. Thus both the maps and ECIS should provide making a To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of preliminary course setting and controlling the current location of the vessel during the voyage. The cartographical information in use should be adequate, according to Rule 27, to the requirements of navigation and properly updated. Thus To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of it is clear from the text of Rule 19, that the system ECIS can be used on ships of any size, but it should meet the operational requirements of IMO, stated To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of in the Resolution A. 817 (19), and to have approval from the national maritime administration.

The necessity of wide application of ECIS system on the vessels passing through the strait zone becomes obvious in connection To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of with introduction of AIS, which can be effectively utilized provided the vessels have visual information indicators for maintenance of navigation in shallow and prevention of vessels collision. As such indicators, displays To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of of RTS, ESIC and/or ARTSD can be applied.

The final part of Chapter 5 contains the requirements concerning a ship steering drive, maintenance of visibility from the pilot-bridge, using the international code of To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of signals, transmitting rescue signals and emergency signals, as well as other messages of dangers observable in the sea. All of them are based on provisions of the acting Chapter 5 of the SOLAS-74 Convention To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of.

Consequently, basing on provisions of Chapter 5 it is possible to assert, that the level of navigation safety in the Straits can be essentially increased at the expense of improving the structure of To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of the ship navigation equipment and, first of all, at the expense of the global navigating satellite system, which should become a basis for the ship navigating complex. As GMDSS To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of now can be used the U.S. system GPS (Global Positioning System) and the Russian system GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System) which are a satellite based radionavigation systems which enable unlimited number To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of of users to make all-weather 3D positioning, velocity measuring and timing anywhere in the world or near-Earth space.

The specified GMDSS received approval from the side of IMO, who, however, noted, that To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of both systems do not fully meet the requirements on accuracy of observations, necessary for maintenance of navigation in the shallow. So it is recommended to use in addition a differential subsystem GMDSS To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of, allowing to increase accuracy of definition up to 5-10 meters. Presently there are more than 200 such difstations worldwide already. The first stations occur in Russia also in the areas of ports St To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of. Petersburg and Novorossyisk and in western sector of Arctic Region. Turkey and Russia could jointly accept the program of creating a sea differential subsystem GMDSS, for this purpose the needed quantity of difstations To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of could be installed in the strait zone, that would allow to determine the place of the passing vessels with the accuracy up to 5 meters. 15

As a result of installing and re-equipping To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of of ship navigating complexes, which will be necessary for applying on ships in conformity with provisions of the new Chapter 5, the accuracy and reliability of the ship navigation, including in the strait To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of zone, can essentially increase. The accuracy of determining the place of a vessel in the straits should not be worse than 10 meters. And reliability of the ship navigation should make To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of 99,8%.

^ Conclusion Remarks

From the pre-historical times, man used the oil coming up to the surface. However, if any one from the successful earliest explorers, who first drilled the well in the American city To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of of Oil Creek (state of Pennsylvania)16, had got to know about the subject of the new Straits regime “oil contradictions”, he would have been pretty surprised with its subject matter To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of. Oil is a raw material that makes us happy to move by car, travel by air, consume numerous goods мейд of it. But the toll for having these advantages are ecological disasters caused by To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of oil spills at the ocean, that is the main environment for its transportation, as far as the half of all oil extracted worldwide is exported by the seaway. And there is To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of practically no alternative to the immediate transportation, since having been stored for 3-4 months it becomes thick and loses quality.17

Also it has to be admitted, that hardly any Regulations are able to To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of stop oil extraction and distribution. Recent contract on exploitation of the Sakhalin oil worthy of 1.7 billion US dollars, that was signed between India and Russia, promises erection of up to 20 oil drilling To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of platforms in the Sakhalin maritime spaces, which hardly could be recognized as a gift for the navigators using those maritime spaces and people inhabit the coast towns.

The Bosphorus is a lifeline to To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of the nations of the Black Sea. Bulgaria, Romania, Russia and Ukraine need these narrow straits to access the outside world. Now control and use of The Bosphorus is again on To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of the stage of multinational relations not only between Black Sea states but all others users of Caspian oil. The Black Sea straits are one of the most busy sea crossroads, the strait To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of zone is annually being crossed by 50 thousand vessels, 15 % of which are multi-tonnage vessels, in a number of cases carrying hazardous substances (5 % of the total number of vessels ). However, Turkish vessels make 60% of the total To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of number using the straits. In 1994 the quantity of foreign ships, by last report of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, has decreased approximately on 16 % in comparison with 1993 (from 23 thousand down to 19 thousand vessels To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of), and their total tonnage has decreased for the same time on 25% (from 117 million down to 88 million reg. tons).

Turkey continues to introduce unilaterally more and more new rules (is insisting To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of that double hull ships be used, the Turkish government reserve the right to increase transit fees five-fold and also stated that it would limit oil exports via the Bosphorus in an attempt To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of to reduce the expected increase in tanker traffic; has limited exports via the Bosphorus to tankers of 160,000 deadweight tons, and could limit the passage of oil further), which essentially narrow the straits.

Kazakhstan has To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of objected to Turkey's plans to limit the passage of oil through the Bosphorus. In April 2001, Kazakh Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrisov stated his opposition to introducing "artificial" limits on the To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of transportation of oil through the Bosphorus " due to non-economic motives, " noting that freight flows through the Straits from the other direction - from the Mediterranean Sea - " are much more active " than from the To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Black Sea . 12

Turkey justifies her unilateral way when enacting the specified measures and 1998 Regulations by the fact that she is the only coastal country and that the Montreux Convention grants her full To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of sovereignty over the straits. Both these of argument are insolvent. As to the first one, nobody argues the sovereignty of Turkey above the straits, however, the Convention does not fix a full and To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of unlimited sovereignty of Turkey above this international waterway. The Montreux Convention assigns Turkey a number of liabilities, that absolutely clear limit her freedom. In particular, the sovereignty of Turkey is To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of limited by her voluntary undertaken responsibility to grant foreign ships "the right to enjoy full freedom of passage and navigation in the straits", article 2 besides, the realization of this right "… should To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of be regulated by the decisions of the Convention". Article 1 As far as no any other, especially unilaterally enacted rules of navigation in the straits, except for the decisions of the Convention, are provided, this implies To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of, that introduction of any rules of navigation in straits in addition to rules of the Convention should be coordinated with other participants to the Convention.

The Montreux Convention was concluded for 20 years To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of period since the moment of coming in force. If Turkey, in the framework of article 28, is intended to denunciate it, then after notification on that of the French government the Convention To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of shall continue in stay in force until two years after such notice shall have been given. But even in this case, «the principle of freedom of transit and navigation affirmed To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of in article 1 of the 1936 Convention shall however continue without limit of time.»

Possible procedures of how alterations or additions should be мейд to text of 1936 Convention are stipulated in article 29, where, in particular, it To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of is written, that if it should not be found impossible to reach an agreement on proposals to review the convention through the diplomatic channel, the high contracting parties agree to To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of be represented at a conference to be summoned for this purpose. Such a conference may only take decisions by a unanimous vote, except as regards cases of revision involving articles 14 and 18, for To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of which a majority of three-quarters of the high contracting parties shall be sufficient. The said majority shall include three-quarters of the high contracting parties which are the Black Sea powers, including To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Turkey.

A number of countries (including Russia) мейд statements, that they do not consider themselves liable to carry out those requirements of the Regulations enacted by Turkey, which are in discrepancy with the To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Montreux Convention and the rules and recommendations of IMO. At the end of June, 1994 the Foreign Ministry of Russia submitted the Memorandum to the Turkish Embassy in Moscow. (Before that, the question was To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of raised in the Notes from April 20 and June 17). The Memorandum fixed the basic constituents of the Russian position with regard to the decrees enacted by Turkey:

- "Russia as one of To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of main "users" of the Straits shares completely the concern of Turkey with the problem of a safety of navigation in the Black Sea straits and supports measures undertaken in this respect To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of. (in the course of discussion, Russia informed that because of imposing the Regulations since July 1, 1994 till December 31, 1995 there were 268 cases of unjustified hold-ups of the Russian vessels, that resulted in the loss of To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of 1553 hours of operational time and damage in amount of more than 885 thousand US dollars, not counting the loss profit, lost contracts and sanctions for delays).

- The new Regulations exceed the bounds To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of of solving this important task by imposing unjustified restrictions, to the extent of complete interruption of navigation in the straits, that directly contradicts the Montreux Convention of and other conventional standards of the To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of law of the sea.

- Russia can not recognize as lawful introduction of this, in its essence, licensing order of passage through the straits and unilateral restrictions (for example, establishment of one-way movement To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of through the straits at passing of multi-tonnage vessels), to the extent of actual prohibition of such passage for the certain categories of ships". 13

In present conditions, in view of To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of changes of a geopolitical situation in the region (loss of a number of important ports and reduction of the Russian sea border in the Black Sea basin, decreasing of the Russian naval To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of presence, weakening of the fleet, as well as changes in the foreign policy orientation of the coastal to the Black Sea states, namely Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine), the observance of the 1936 Montreux treaty To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of has a strategic importance for Russia.

Turkey has announced plans to sign a convention defining the liability of shipowners to compensate the victims of oil pollution and to meet the cost To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of of any ensuing spillage operations.

A Turkish foreign ministry official here has announced: "Our government has begun the necessary procedures to joining the United Nations Civil Liability Convention. "The instrument, established To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of by the London-based International Maritime Organisation in 1969 and amended by it in 1992, defines the liability of shipowners in the case of spillage and subsequent clean-up operations. 14

May be this move is To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of the simplest from many in resolving the Black Sea shipping revenues generated by lucrative oil exports from the Caspian to western Europe?

And the last, but not least. The nature of any disaster To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of or case of emergency on the sea is connected, as a rule, with carelessness of people, lack of real practical experience of the crew and unsuitable knowledge of officers. To To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of combine efforts to reduce this factor is within abilities of our conference members. Turkey is a maritime state with ancient traditions of navigation. It's unique geographical position, with a мейд by Nature training To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of simulator and very good developed navigation and information structure of the Strait’s zone can be a good field for organization of the "International Maritime School". Such a school can every To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of year on the regular base organize groups of captains and watch keepers both from the Black sea countries and sea companies, vessels of which using the Straits most intensive. And if To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Turkish government on occasion take a decision to give reductions in charges for all of vessels under the command of certificated graduate from such a school, it will have crowds of applicants to join To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of it.

2 Nilufer oral & Giindiiz Aybay in their article “The meanıng of freedom of passage and navıgatıon under the 1936 Montreux conventıon on the regıme of the Turkısh straıts To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of” (From the Annual of Turkish Review of Balkan Studies, 1998/99) wrote “It should be pointed out that the use of the term "transit" of the official English translation of Articles 1 and To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of 2 is in fact erroneous. In the official French text of the Convention, the term used is "libe'rte de passage and de navigation" and not "freedom of transit and navigation". This erroneous translation in To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of the official English translation may have at the time seemed of little importance as in 1936 the regime of transit passage created by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of (hereinafter "UNCLOS"), did not exist. However, since the creation of the new transit passage regime, this error cannot be overlooked”

3 The question on Turkey’s illegitimate enforcing Navigation Regulations was raised also To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of at the session of Committee on economic, trade, technological and ecological matters at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) countries in February, 1996, 11 where it was spoken To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of that imposing of the Turkish Regulations resulted in significant damage for the shipowners, first of all, of the Black Sea and surrounding countries.12

4 In 2000 - 48,000 ships, including 6,000 tankers.

5 http://www.turkishpilots.org/

6. http To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/choke.html#BOSPORUS

7. http://www.eia.doe.gov/

8 http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/news/75341.asp?cp1=1

9 http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/turkenv.html#MARINE_POLLUTION

10 http://www To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of.gasandoil.com/goc/news/ntc91076.htm

11 If objections on the text of the new Chapter 5 are not coming by the specified date from one third of countries – members of IMO who own not To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of less than 50 % of the total tonnage of the world sea fleet, then it will be considered as adopted and come into force since July 1, 2002.

12 http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/caspblk To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of.html

15 Presently, according to the To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of Decision of Russian Federation Government from 03.08.99, N.896,. vessles should utilize mixed-signal receivers GMDSS, capable use both GPS and GLONARS systems, that allows to increase accuracy of observation up to 15-20 meters To the question of Russian consideration of the impact of